This post might include affiliate links for products that I know and LOVE! By using these links, you help support my blog and give me the opportunity to create awesome free content as I receive a small percentage of each purchase. Please know that your price never changes and that every opinion expressed is my own! Thank you for your support! 🙂

There aren’t many things in life that are better than going into your favorite coffee shop and purchasing your favorite steaming drink and cozy pastry. Bring that feeling home and stay on plan with this roundup of coffee-shop inspired drinks and treats from my favorite THM bloggers! I’d highly recommend following their blogs to stay updated on their latest creations. If you enjoy my blog, you’ll enjoy theirs as well!

These drinks and baked goods are going to give you that indulgence, guilt-free! Not to mention, you’ll have leftovers AND save money. As a coffee obsessed Mama, I so appreciate the creativity that went into these recipes. I’ve tried most of them and can vouch that they are just as good as my old sugary standbys! 🙂

Miscellaneous Coffee Shop Hacks

This post might include affiliate links for products that I know and LOVE! By using these links, you help support my blog and give me the opportunity to create awesome free content as I receive a small percentage of each purchase. Please know that your price never changes and that every opinion expressed is my own! Thank you for your support! 🙂

So, you’ve started Trim Healthy Mama. You feel great, you’re super pumped to share it with everyone..starting with the beloved people under your own roof. You expect your family to react with the same joy you have, yet you’re met with looks of disdain and untouched plates.

This has been me a few times. I’m a blessed wife and Mama to two little boys. All of my men are extremely opinionated and they love their food! In the beginning, I was running myself ragged trying to cook multiple options for everyone. Now, my little guys eat on plan nearly 100% (except for treats, when we eat out and other toddler-esque occasions.) and my husband, when home, eats on plan. And truthfully? They have no clue that they’re eating any different than they normally would. It’s been trial and error, but I’ve come up with some awesome tips that have made this transition easier and enjoyable for everyone.

Think Substitutions

If your family is set in their ways and not totally open to a lot of new recipes, think in terms of substitution rather than a total overhaul. Instead of using regular pasta in your spaghetti or alfredo, use Dreamfields. Switch to low-carb tortillas for taco night, and substitute a sweet potato for that starchy white one. The trick at first might be to keep meals as “normal” seeming as possible.

Sneak Veggies In

Most family members will eat a simple salad, so I started adding one to nearly every meal. My family also loves green beans if they’re seasoned or cheesy broccoli, so making those veggies a regular part of our meals was a no drama move. You can also sneak spinach into smoothies, squash puree into an on plan mac and cheese and if you get really good at making them..cauliflower mashed potatoes have fooled a tot or two. 🙂

Lead By Example

If your family sees you having an awesome attitude about the plan they’re going to be more likely to join in themselves. Do your best to not complain, to talk about the positives you’re experiencing (even if you have yet to lose a pound!) and to show your family just how fun it can be. If you’re trying to eliminate cheats, show your family healthy alternatives by passing up the dessert table yourself!

Make it Fun!

I don’t know about you, but I’m more likely to follow someone’s lead if what they’re doing isn’t sheer drudgery! Make following THM fun for your family! Here are a few ways that I try to lighten things up:

Let your family members choose a new recipe to try

Invest in a fun special ingredient like THM Baking Blend so you can experiment together

Let your kids help cook

Cut veggies and fruits into fun shapes. I do this with toast too!

Give Them Grace

If your husband or child goes off plan, don’t guilt-trip them. Remember that everyone needs grace and that the three-hour rule applies to everyone! This attitude of grace over perfection is going to give your family a healthy lifestyle stress-free.

Don’t Push and Compromise

You guys, I pushed my husband SO much at first and it backfired. He was super unhappy, he was eating more fast food than usual (because he was sneaking it!) and there was so much tension. When I sat down with him and came up with a compromise things worked better. We decided that at home, he eats on plan. At work, he does his thing. Is this the perfect compromise? Absolutely not! But it’s saved a lot of heartaches.

Let Them Trim Their Way

THM is about customizing the principles to fit your lifestyle. I mean, the theme song clues you in on that one! As a wife and Mama, you know your family better than anyone else. You know their schedules, their hearts, their preferences. Don’t be afraid to customize the plan to fit your family. Pay attention to their individual needs (More “E” meals, etc). Let them be as Drive-Thru-Sue or Purist-y as they like without judgement. 🙂

This post might include affiliate links for products that I know and LOVE! By using these links, you help support my blog and give me the opportunity to create awesome free content as I receive a small percentage of each purchase. Please know that your price never changes and that every opinion expressed is my own! Thank you for your support! 🙂

My biggest accomplishment over the last couple of months has been switching my toddler’s usual snacks of cookies, fruit snacks, and other not-so-great for you snacks to THM-friendly snacks. And it wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be! They eat many crossovers, either for snacks or meals to make sure that they grow as God intended them to. You’ll also see that I make them some honey-sweetened treats as that is on plan for kids who don’t have weight issues. My littles eat a LOT of stevia-sweetened treats as well. So far, they haven’t complained once about their snacks or even asked for their old treats! I put together a BIG list of what they’ve been eating and of what I’m planning for them to eat so you can include some of these snacks in your own home. Hint: This list works for husbands too. 🙂

This post might include affiliate links for products that I know and LOVE! By using these links, you help support my blog and give me the opportunity to create awesome free content as I receive a small percentage of each purchase. Please know that your price never changes and that every opinion expressed is my own! Thank you for your support! 🙂

Happy New Year!

Chances are, you’ve set some lofty goals for yourself and if you’re reading this, one (or more!) of them has to do with Trim Healthy Mama. Whether you’re just starting out or re-starting after a rocky year, here are some tips to help 2017 be your healthiest year yet.

Make Changes

Think about what worked last year and what didn’t. What were your triggers? What discouraged you? What were your favorite meals? What foods turned you off? Evaluate these things and make the changes needed to make things go smoothly this year.

Read

Re-read your THM books! Try to read the book with new eyes. I’ve found there is always something I’ve overlooked or might have forgotten.

Get Excited

Make it fun. Find new favorite recipes, get some cute new accessories (I love the new THM Sippers from the online THM store!) and get excited about making this awesome change.

Think Lifestyle Not Diet

Go into it with a mindset of changing your lifestyle for good, not just until you lose the weight. When you change your lifestyle, you think long-term and are more likely to stay with something!

Go Beyond Skin Deep Goals

Create a list of goals that have nothing to do with weight. Yupp! You heard right! Here’s a list to get you started:

Getting off medication

Being able to keep up with your kids/grandkids

Longer life

Ability to do more

Clearer skin

Having more at stake than just weight loss helps you keep things in perspective and weigh what’s truly important.

Join In

I highly recommend joining the THM Facebook groups. There are so many that cater to specific needs, budget-friendly, recipes, and of course, the official THM Main Group which is always hopping! It’s fun to gain meal ideas and inspiration from other ladies, plus if you need any questions answered there are literally thousands of friendly faces waiting to jump at the chance!

Simplify

If things are feeling too overwhelming, step back and simplify! Make easier meals, use your crock-pot and plan ahead to keep life easy.

Plan

I’m a huge fan of meal planning because it keeps me on track and saves money! Having a game plan is a lifesaver on days where you’re tired or emotionally susceptible to going off plan. I like to keep a freezer meal or two on hand for those days that life gets crazy. If you’d like to see how I menu plan you can find that information here.

Go Easy On Yourself

Give yourself lots of grace, especially if you are just starting or coming back after a long break. You’ll have your awesome days and you’ll most likely have a few days where things seem hard. Don’t punish yourself if you do go off plan and love yourself enough to go back on 3 hours later. The great thing about THM is that it is full of grace, so there’s no need to sweat the small stuff 😉

This post might include affiliate links for products that I know and LOVE! By using these links, you help support my blog and give me the opportunity to create awesome free content as I receive a small percentage of each purchase. Please know that your price never changes and that every opinion expressed is my own! Thank you for your support! 🙂

Sometimes, it’s easy to get stuck in a healthy food rut, especially when you’re on a tight budget. When that happens, I like to look to other people for inspiration!

I’m hoping to be that inspiration for you today by sharing my THM grocery haul/menu plan. When I brought this idea up to my readers, they were all over it! I absolutely adore talking about healthy living on a budget, so I’m really excited to add this new feature to my blog! I’m still working out the details of what I want this post to look like, but I knew that this was a need in the THM community that could be filled, even if imperfectly. 🙂 I am considering making this a bi-weekly feature on The Fabuless Wife. If you’re looking for a weekly menu plan, please check out Darcie’s Dishes! She posts frugal menu plans each week and they pretty much rock.

This is what I bought at the grocery store and my menu plan for the week. To give you a few background details:

My total budget each week is $120. Sometimes, this budget needs to include personal items like laundry soap etc

I don’t have an Aldi, Sam’s Club or anything like that. For these hauls, I’ll be using Hyvee, Fareway, and good ol’ Wal-mart

I have 4 people in my family including myself, a husband that’s not fully THM and still likes his junk food treats and two toddlers who lately are putting away as much as an adult!

At the bottom of this post, you can find my grocery list of items that I bought and the price to give you an idea of what I’m working with!

I like to keep things simple and I LOVE my leftovers!

I make my own bread to save $$$

Here’s this week’s menu plan. To learn more about menu planning click here:

Snacks:

Here’s what I bought and the price. This week, I only shopped at Fareway.

Turkey Bologna-$2.00

Cloves-.99

Nutmeg-.99

Frozen Cauliflower-$1.69

Low-Carb Tortillas-$4.59 (Splurge, but a must-have for me!)

Honey-$3.48 (For little ones and to make Soft Sprouted Bread, found in the new THM Cookbook)

Celery-$1.49

Bananas-$1.17

Sausage Links-$1.29

Carrots-$1.29

Apples-$1.68

Spinach-$1.50

Shredded Cheese-$6.00

Eggs-$1.58 (2 dozen!)

Sliced Cheese $2.49

Bacon-$3.88

Cream Cheese-$3.33 (For 3)

Sprouted Wheat Flour-$2.99

Wasa Crackers-$2.99

Chicken Breasts-$6.99

Dried Beans-$1.29

Almond Milk-$2.88

Dreamfields-$1.89

Half and Half -$1.15

Sour Cream-.99

Brown Rice-$1.19

Natural Peanut Butter-$2.99

All Fruit Jam-$2.79

Salsa-$2.00

Butter-$3.99

Alfredo Sauce-$2.50

Zevia-$3.98 (Another splurge item!)

Not listed is special items for my husband and children like milk, saltines, snacks to have at work etc that cost about $30! My total this week was $120 and change. I planned all my meals ahead of time and wrote my list according to those meals, because that helps me to stay frugal and sane in all honesty!

This post might include affiliate links for products that I know and LOVE! By using these links, you help support my blog and give me the opportunity to create awesome free content as I receive a small percentage of each purchase. Please know that your price never changes and that every opinion expressed is my own! Thank you for your support! 🙂

This is my husband’s new favorite dinner recipe. When I was creating it, I actually baked it early in the day to photograph it in natural lighting. He saw it hours before he could actually eat it and from the way he was talking..it was sheer torture. He may have snuck a bite, or five. 🙂

This chicken bake is creamy and full of flavor. It has mushrooms, bacon, and swiss cheese, along with a secret ingredient that gives it a bit of smokehouse flair. It’s also very easy to make, literally just throwing a few ingredients in a pan and baking it. This dish pairs nicely with a tossed salad and some roasted broccoli.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch pan. Cut the cream cheese into little chunks and place evenly around the chicken. Drain mushrooms and place on top of chicken. Lay the pre-cooked bacon on top. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper and a dash of liquid smoke. Bake the chicken for 30 minutes, take out and top with cheese. Bake for 10 more minutes of until the cheese is melty. Let cool and enjoy!

This post might include affiliate links for products that I know and LOVE! By using these links, you help support my blog and give me the opportunity to create awesome free content as I receive a small percentage of each purchase. Please know that your price never changes and that every opinion expressed is my own! Thank you for your support! 🙂

My Mom would make chocolate crinkles nearly every year for my Dad around Christmas time. Those crinkles were rich, soft cookies topped with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. They were simple, yet delicious and total comfort food.

I’ve been getting quite a few requests for recipes using just one flour, so I wanted to see if there was any way to THM these cookies using coconut flour. The result? A cookie that is moist, chewy, full of flavor and just plain amazing!

Coconut flour is currently under $10 at my local Walmart for a 2.5 lb tub. You don’t use much coconut flour at all, so this tub lasts awhile! Frugal Mama’s rejoice. 🙂

These cookies were gobbled up by my little guys who couldn’t get enough “Chocolaties!” This recipe makes about 2 dozen small cookies.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together. Drop in teaspoon sized scoops on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 13 minutes. Immediately place on a baking rack to cool. When cooled, sprinkle additional Gentle Sweet over the tops. Enjoy!

This post might include affiliate links for products that I know and LOVE! By using these links, you help support my blog and give me the opportunity to create awesome free content as I receive a small percentage of each purchase. Please know that your price never changes and that every opinion expressed is my own! Thank you for your support! 🙂

These truffles are a game-changer. After experimenting with so many different ingredients and flavors, these are the winner! They’re a traditional truffle. Smooth, creamy, melt in your mouth. They have a dark mysterious flavor that is so rich and decadent. They’re ideal for special occasions like holidays or you know, that time of the month. I’d recommend a serving size, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be satisfied after one or two. 😉

The recipe you’ll see in the little box is a base recipe, but I’m including lots of variations so you have your pick of the lot! I rolled mine in cinnamon, some cocoa powder, peanut flour and unsweetened coconut (NOT all at once!). Let me know what kind you choose to make. If you come up with any creative ideas of your own, be sure to share with the group!

Combine all ingredients over medium heat until smooth. Pour in a loaf pan and place in freezer for 30 minutes or until hardened. You want the texture to be smooth, yet able to be rolled in your palms. Scoop the mixture out in tablespoon size servings. Roll the hardened mixture into balls, then roll in toppings of choice. You'll want to work fast! Store in fridge until ready to eat.

This post might include affiliate links for products that I know and LOVE! By using these links, you help support my blog and give me the opportunity to create awesome free content as I receive a small percentage of each purchase. Please know that your price never changes and that every opinion expressed is my own! Thank you for your support! 🙂

One of the biggest ways that I simplify my life is through menu planning. I absolutely love my menu plans because:

They help me save money

They keep my organized

They keep my family healthy

They allow me to be more creative

A menu plan is an awesome idea, right? I’m sure you can think of a few ways a menu plan might benefit you.

You might want to menu plan because you’re a working Mama who wants to be healthy and eat as little fast food as possible. Or maybe, you have little kids and don’t have the time or energy for multiple grocery store trips. You might even be an empty nester who wants to maximize her time instead of spending it on silly things like figuring out what’s for dinner each night. No matter what your reason, it’s important to use that as motivation to create a successful menu plan.

A successful menu plan..What is it and how do I create one?

A successful menu plan is a menu plan that is effective and that sticks. For menu planning to be successful in your life, you need to customize the process to fit your specific needs! You need to make your menu plan your own and something that is easily do-able.

A common misconception about menu planning is that it takes a lot of time and effort. Not if you use my system! You’ll be able to create your routine and get it down pat!How can you create a menu plan that will satisfy your needs?

Consider who you’re cooking for!

Think about your family. You want to include meals that they enjoy or your menu plan will be totally wasted.

Consider your limits!

Choose realistic meals that you know you can cook. Think about the amount of time you have to cook dinner each night, your skill level and how much you enjoy cooking. It’s better to choose simple meals that don’t require a lot of work than to throw your menu plan out the window because of discouragement.

Consider your budget

Menu planning should save you money, not cost you more. It’s important to think about your personal budget when planning. For example, my budget can definitely allow chicken and fresh produce, but if I were to throw a meal in there that needs 20 different specialty items..well, that might be the only meal we get all week! It’s best to have a set amount in mind and stick with it.

Okay..How Do I Get Started?

Find Your System

Before you begin menu planning, you’ll want to figure out your system. For some of us, menu planning might be as simple as writing your meals down on a sheet of computer paper. For others, menu planning might mean a cute notebook with a color coding system. Whatever you decide, you’ll want to be prepared. Right now, I use a free grocery list/menu plan printable.

Gather Inspiration

If you are someone who loves variety, you’ll want to have a rotation of meals to choose from. Cookbooks are an awesome way to find new recipes. I can find fun cookbooks thrifted very easily. You can also use my favorite site of all time, Pinterest. I have a few boards FULL of great, easy family-friendly recipes.

Create Time

You’ll want to make sure that you have a set time to menu plan. When I menu plan each week, it takes me about an hour to create our menu plan and write a grocery list. This is after a little practice and it will most likely take you longer when you’re new! I like to make menu planning time “me-time” whenever possible. I keep it light and fun by putting on some Mama music and relaxing with a good drink.

Here’s my system..

I use this grocery list and menu planner from A Girl and Her Blog. I love how organized it is and it’s easy to have everything in one place!

The first thing I do when making my menu plan is scope out the weekly ads. Right now, I shop once a week because I love being able to shop the weekly ad sales! It’s fun to see what healthy items are on sale and what I can make from them. I usually have my cookbooks and Pinterest account open to get inspiration.

The second thing I do is scan my pantry, fridge, and freezer for any items that I have on hand. I try to pair these with the sale items for maximum savings.

I plan my dinners for each night, along with a list of breakfasts and lunches. I follow the Trim Healthy Mama eating plan, so having a visual keeps me on track!

After I have my meals written down, I’ll write down each and every item that I need. This means that nothing gets left out, which means less trips to the store, which means less money spent on impulse purchases.

I do my best to stick to this menu plan. So far, it’s been a great blessing to my family!

What about you? What would you menu planning system look like? Let me know your success stories!

This post might include affiliate links for products that I know and LOVE! By using these links, you help support my blog and give me the opportunity to create awesome free content as I receive a small percentage of each purchase. Please know that your price never changes and that every opinion expressed is my own! Thank you for your support! 🙂

What’s better than chocolate covered strawberries?

Umm, not a lot in my opinion. This torte will crush those cravings. I think this is a great dessert to make for date night. My man thought this was so delicious! I think I’m adding this to my Valentines Day menu. 🙂

This torte is very simple to make, yet it looks like you spent hours on it. It has a light crust that balances out the rich chocolate filling perfectly. It’s topped with a strawberry reduction that truly makes it unique. Don’t let the word reduction scare you, this is easy as pie. Easy as torte? Whatever, enough with the Mama jokes. Let’s cook!

Combine all ingredients and press in the bottom of an 8-inch pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool.

Chocolate Filling

Whip all ingredients together until fluffy. Spread over cooled crust.

Strawberry Reduction

Bring all ingredients to a swift boil. Reduce heat and let simmer, stirring constantly until the mixture is thickened. Cool. Spread on top of the filling, swirl with the chocolate filling and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.
*You could also freeze this for an hour for a frozen treat

Hi, I’m Cate!

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